09 June 2011

Several segments on last night's The Ed Show were devoted to the "sexting" scandal around New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner. Mike Rogers, the über-blogger and investigative reporter known for outing closeted anti-gay politicians such as Ken Mehlman and Larry Craig, offered some context.

"The Republicans are great about making it about people when it's about principle. And they have no principles. You just heard RNC Chairman Reince Priebius say, 'We don't want to revisit that,' of course you don't, because it will show exactly how hypocritical you are. Anthony Weiner hasn't done anything illegal, like paying prostitutes. David Vitter has. That's why they deflect."

Rogers' work is the focus of Kirby Dick's documentary Outrage, which is a must-see if you already haven't. Watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP ..

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said its request is related to Vitter’s recent request for a Justice Department investigation into ACORN, the community activist group with headquarters in New Orleans. Staffers in at least four ACORN offices around the country have been caught in a video sting giving advice to a couple pretending to be a prostitute and pimp looking for tax breaks and other assistance.

"Sen. Vitter’s zeal to see ACORN criminally investigated for offering advice in setting up a prostitution ring reminded me he has yet to be held accountable for his own role in a prostitution ring," said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. "While ACORN’s conduct is indefensible, so is Sen. Vitter’s and what is good for the goose is good for the gander."

The Louisiana senator has introduced an amendment to the omnibus spending bill before the Senate to drastically cut funding for family planning programs. Vitter’s amendment states that "none of the funds appropriated under this Act shall be made available to Planned Parenthood for any purpose under title X of the Public Health Service Act."

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), who was arrested June 11, 2007 on charges of lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport terminal, is co-sponsoring the amendment along with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).

Craig, who entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, was detained and charged for attempting to engage in sexual activity with a male undercover police officer. His arrest and plea became public two months later. At that time, Craig attempted to withdraw his plea and enter a new plea of not guilty. To date, his efforts have been denied by the courts.

In July of 2007, Vitter was identified as a client of a prostitution firm owned by the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, commonly known as The DC Madam.

This isn't the first time the two disgraced adulterous senators have tried to defend marriage. Rewind to our first column in The Advocate last fall. "Vitter had also been racking up frequent-flier points in a New Orleans bordello," we wrote and "somewhere between floor speeches supporting 'traditional marriage' and cosponsoring a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage, the serial adulterer found time to call the escort service -- from the Senate Republican Cloakroom, reportedly." Only in the Republican Party can two men accused of being serial adulterers get away with such naked hypocrisy on so-called "family values." Oh, and it goes without saying the mainstream media will be slow to call them on their hypocrisy.

Suicide notes were found near the body in a small storage shed next to a mobile home, police said. Palfrey, 52, was reportedly staying at the home of her mother, who owns the property where the body was found, police said.

Last month, Palfrey was convicted in connection with a high-end prostitution ring that catered to Washington's movers and shakers and "was found guilty of money laundering, racketeering and mail fraud. She was awaiting sentencing with a potential of 50 years in jail."

This is a tragic end to a troubling and hypocritical prosecution. Vitter remains free to roam across new Orleans and Washington, Palfrey was hounded by federal agents and the media. The death investigation is pending so until then, the "suicide" will remain as a probable cause of death.

11 April 2008

Sen. David Vitter is getting some help from unexpected places. The embattled and hypocritical "family values" Republican exposed as serial adulterer and prostitution client is being defended by ... Sen. Larry Craig, the embattled and hypocritical "family values" Republican senator exposed a serial men's room cruiser. With friends like these ....

Lawyers for Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called D.C. Madam, "have called on Vitter to testify in the upcoming case." Last year, Vitter admitted to a "serious sin" and refused to elaborate, but, at least two New Orleans calls girls provided the sordid details.

Craig is one of several Republican senators who say Vitter's expected testimony should not compel him to resign. in” but has spoken little about it since, and his office did not respond to calls for comment Tuesday. "First and foremost, in these kinds of issues, it’s the state and the relationship you have with your state that really determines where you ought to go," Craig tells The Hill. "That was certainly my case. The Senate itself wasn’t going to judge me. I would allow the citizens of my state to do so. And there is still strong support there."

"Is" there? Republicans in Idaho and in Washington are still outraged after Craig's promise to serve
out the remaining 15 months of his term, despite a court ruling that left
intact his guilty plea in the sex sting at Minneapolis International Airport. At least five other gay men describe having sex, or, being propositioned by the de-closeted right-wing, anti-gay Idaho Republican. But hey, it's touching to see the "family values" crowd stick together ...

15 November 2007

The Republican sex scandal hit parade keeps growing stronger. David Vitter, the Louisiana senator who was implicated but never charged in connection with the "DC Madam" scandal, has now been subpoenaed as part of the federal investigation. The Huffington Post reports the subpoena "calls on the freshman senator to testify at a federal court hearing Nov. 28 looking into the business operations of the $2 million escort service Deborah Jeane Palfrey operated in the nation's capital for 13 years."

This news is simply delicious. The anti-gay, "family values" Vitter acknowledges being a client of Palfrey's escort service but refuses to comment upon his relationship with other prostitutes. (Possibly because the call girls have publicly mocked Vitter's small pee-pee?) Earlier this week, The Hill reported the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force formally wrote a "strongly worded letter" to Ethics Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ranking Member Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), criticizing their investigation of closeted latrine queen Sen. Larry Craig (R-Minneapolis Airport) because "he allegedly solicited gay sex but has ignored allegations of impropriety involving Sen. David Vitter because Vitter’s alleged behavior was heterosexual."

There certainly is a double standard in the treatment of the well-publicized extra-curricular activities of the sleazy senators—we essayed this same topic in our new column—but the (stalled) investigation into Larry Craig was launched by his former friends in the Senate Republican caucus. They can initiate an investigation into Vitter or drop the probe that was launched of Craig. It's not our problem. But the thought of Vitter testifying under oath about hiring prostitutes ... that's precious.

11 September 2007

· The latest attempt by Sen. Larry Craig toward career rehabilitation: A Minnesota court will hear the senator's request to withdraw the guilty plea made after his arrest in a
men's room sex sting. "The Hennepin County District Court said the hearing would be held on September 26, just
days before the September 30 deadline the Idaho Republican set for
himself to resign if his name is not cleared." The three-term senator maintains he was incompetent to enter the plea signed almost two months after arrest.

· The Advocate talks to Jonathan Capehart about the groundbreaking HRC/Logo Presidential Forum: "It was a great honor to even be asked. They could have gone to any number of out gay journalists to sit on that sofa... How extraordinary to have a possible president of the United States not be afraid to talk about LGBT issues on live TV. Too bad the Republicans didn’t avail themselves of the same opportunity."

14 July 2007

· Disco diva Gloria Gaynor wants the many gays who idolized "I Will Survive" to now follow her lead and idolize Jesus Christ. Gaynor refused to say whether or not she thought homosexuality was a sin, only telling the BBC, "I want to lead them to Him, I want to lead them to Christ, simply, and whatever He has for them.'

· A new definition of "hyposcrisy". Tony Perkins at the right-wing Family Research Council blames Sen. David Vitter's prostitution scandal on gay rights, "homosexual newspapers, pornographer Larry Flynt and others who despise pro-family values are using Louisiana Senator David Vitter's admission that he hired an escort service and committed a "serious sin" as an opportunity to say that those who advocate for traditional moral values are hypocrites."

· Portland, Oregon: Police say 64-year-old real investor Gary Joseph Sparks embezzled $400,000 from clients and "burned through that money in less
than four months by spending it on a male prostitute with
whom he hoped to build a long-term relationship."
Sparks is accused of taking the 23-year-old rentoy on
extravagant shopping sprees—including spending $72,000 on a Mercedes convertible, $9,000
on a Rolex watch and $41,000 for a one-year lease on a West
Hollywood apartment.

· The Washington Post favorably reviews Dark Reflections, the new novel by black gay writer Samnuel R. Delany. The protagonist is "Arnold Hawley is a black, gay poet who lives in Manhattan's East Village. Dark Reflections is a sort of love letter to that part of town, when it sheltered the homeless and the hustler in a way it no longer does." The reviewer describes Delany's novel as a "mainly tender, a loving rendition of a
place that gentrification has all but obliterated, a spot-on portrait
of the East Village artist as a gay black geek."

· In the largest ever settlement reported in the Catholic's church growing sex-abuse scandal, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agree to pay more than 100 victims about $1
million each in a a $660 million settlement.

11 July 2007

In yesterday's report on Sen.David Vitter—the anti-gay Louisiana Republican "family values" senator implicated as an associate of the DC Madam—you'll recall we mentioned he has been previously accused of patronizing another madam in New Orleans. Vitter denied those charges in 2002.

Jeanette Maier, the so-called Canal Street Madam, contradicts Vitter's denial. She tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune the senator frequented her high-end establishment and named him "as a client because she was angry that the Washington allegations made [Vitter] look like a one-dimensional adulterer, when she sees him as a 'good man.'"

"He was not a freak. He was not into anything unusual or kinky or weird."

David Vitter has consistently opposed gay rights and same-sex marriage and was one of the main supporters of the failed Federal Marriage Amendment. "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one," the now-disgraced politician told CNN in June 2006 as the Senate voted on the legislation.